Florida Property Insurance Lawsuits Keep Falling: What the January 2026 OIR Stability Report Means for Claim Resolution

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation released its Property Insurance Stability Report dated January 1, 2026 ¹. Florida law requires the report every January 1 and July 1, and it must address, among other things, the litigation practices and outcomes of insurance companies ¹. The latest edition shows property insurance litigation continuing to decline, and it offers useful data for attorneys, adjusters and parties deciding how and when to resolve disputed claims.

The Reforms Behind the Numbers

The report attributes the market’s direction to a series of legislative changes: 2019 legislation curbing assignment of benefits litigation, SB 76 in 2021, SB 2-D and SB 2-A in 2022, and HB 837 in 2023 ¹. HB 837, approved by the Governor on March 24, 2023 ², repealed Florida’s one-way attorney fee statutes with certain exceptions and provided that a contingency fee multiplier is appropriate only in a rare and exceptional circumstance ¹. Separately, a party must now submit a notice of intent to initiate litigation before suing a property insurer, and SB 2-D allows an insurer to recover fees and costs for obtaining a dismissal when that notice was not provided at least 10 days before suit ¹.

What the Litigation Data Shows

Several measures point the same way:

• Florida’s share of national suits. Florida accounted for 79.16% of nationwide homeowners’ insurance suits in 2020 and 71.59% in 2023, while representing 9.73% of nationwide homeowners’ claims in 2023 ¹.
• Service of process filings. Personal residential lawsuits served through the Department of Financial Services fell 23% from 2023 to 2024, and the first eleven months of 2025 showed a 26% decrease compared with the same period in 2024 ¹.
• Defense costs. Average defense and cost containment expense per claim fell from $992.89 in 2022 to $817.64 in 2024 ¹.

The market indicators followed. For residential policies effective in 2024 or later, 39 companies requested a rate decrease and 100 requested no change ¹. The number of companies under enhanced monitoring fell to 14, from 17 in the July 2025 report ¹.

The Cost of a Litigated Claim and South Florida Premiums

The most useful figures for anyone evaluating a disputed claim come from the report’s closed claim data. Insurers reported 698,742 claims closed in 2024, of which 60,261 were litigated and 621,154 were not ¹. Average loss adjustment expense was $12,701 for litigated claims compared with $1,778 for non-litigated claims ¹. Across all perils, insurers took an average of 57 days to close a claim, with a median of 27 days ¹.

That gap is the economic case for early resolution. Every dollar spent on adjusting and defending a litigated claim is a dollar not available to settle it. Fewer lawsuits do not eliminate disputes over scope, causation or valuation; they change where and how those disputes are resolved.

The report’s county data shows why claim disputes still carry real stakes in this region. As of September 30, 2025, the average homeowners premium including wind coverage was $6,023 in Miami-Dade County and $6,220 in Broward County ¹. In Miami-Dade, the average condominium unit owner premium including wind was $2,848 ¹. Policyholders paying those amounts expect claims to be handled promptly, and insurers face pressure to control costs.

Practical takeaways for claim professionals:

• Resolve valuation disputes early. The report’s expense data suggests that a dispute resolved before litigation costs a fraction of one resolved after suit ¹.
• Use the pre-suit notice period productively. The notice of intent requirement ¹ creates a defined window to exchange estimates and documentation before suit.
• Prepare for mediation as if the file were going to trial. With fee shifting narrowed ¹, each side carries more of its own cost, which makes a realistic risk assessment at mediation more valuable.

Counsel and adjusters looking for a certified mediator for a property insurance dispute can check Tony Roca’s live availability and book a mediation by Zoom statewide.